One thing many aspiring home stagers have in common is that they need to continue working while they start up their 
home staging business on a part-time basis. In an ideal world, everyone could quit their job and work on starting their business full time, but this is not an ideal world and this isn’t possible for everyone.
The biggest concern for someone in this position is that they’re not going to be seen as professional since they’re “only” part-time home stagers.
When aspiring stagers come to me with this concern, I tell them the same thing:
Nobody needs to know you’re doing this part-time.
If I had a full-time job and was doing home staging on the side, I would still set up my business. I would have my business phone number, business cards, a home staging website and a page on the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers. If someone were to call me, they would get a professional sounding greeting. It’s not going to say, “Hi you’ve reached Debra and by the way, I’m a part-time home stager and I only work on weekends.”
When you get a call from a potential client and they want to meet with you, you don’t have to tell them you can only meet them on Wednesday after work. If that’s the only time you have available, tell them you happen to have an opening on Wednesday night at seven.
If that doesn’t work for the homeowner, just keep going back and forth until you find a time that works for both of you. Unless you tell them you’re trying to do home staging around your full-time job, they’re likely going to assume you’re a very sought after, heavily booked home stager.
Remember it’s all about perception. If you have a professional looking website and home staging portfolio, and carry yourself with confidence, nobody is going to question whether or not you’re doing this part-time or not. It won’t even cross their minds.
If you’re a home stager who started your business on a part-time basis and have a success story to share, please let us hear it by leaving a comment below!
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging
Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love.
Technorati Tags: part-time home stager, home stagers, aspiring home stager, home staging business, staging diva, debra gould
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